Tribes turn out to vote

Indians could decide tight races in key
Western states

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona —
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, D, stands out in this conservative,
largely Republican state. And she owes much of the success of her
2002 campaign to an unusually large Native American turnout.
"Without the Native Americans, I wouldn’t be standing here
today," she said in July at the Democratic National Convention in
Boston.

That’s high praise for a voting bloc that
wasn’t even given the right to vote in Arizona until 1948,
that makes up only 6 percent of the state’s population, and
that historically hasn’t gone to the polls — turnout on
the state’s Indian reservations has typically lagged 15 to 20
points behind the state average.

But Napolitano
wasn’t exaggerating. She won by only 2,200 votes. That year,
the Indian vote came out in record numbers on the Navajo Nation
— where there are 40,000 registered Democrats — and on
the state’s 21 other reservations, primarily because of three
competing Indian gaming ballot initiatives. The gaming initiative
the majority of tribes favored won, and so did Napolitano.

For generations, even Democratic candidates have ignored
Native Americans, but now, politicians are beginning to pay
attention. In 2000, Indian tribes across the country targeted Sen.
Slade Gorton, R-Wash., then chair of the Appropriations Committee,
because many tribal leaders considered him hostile to Native
American issues. Out-of-state gaming tribes poured in money and
Washington tribes got out the vote — and Democratic candidate
Maria Cantwell won by about 2,000 votes (HCN, 10/23/00: Stalking
Slade).

Two years later, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., was
re-elected by 500 votes; he was trailing until late-arriving
ballots from the Pine Ridge reservation tipped the vote in his
favor. "I think for the first time we can point to these examples
and say our vote really does matter," says Alyssa Burhans, an
organizer with the group National Voice.

This November,
Indian voters could not only play a decisive role in determining
who fills Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s Colorado
Senate seat, but also Senate seats in South Dakota, Oklahoma,
Washington and Alaska.

In South Dakota, Sen. Tom Daschle,
who is squaring off against Rep. John Thune, opened offices on
eight of the state’s nine Indian reservations. "In every
possible way, we’re trying to connect with voters in Indian
country," says Jake Maas, Daschle’s press secretary.
"We’re reaching out to them through paid media, through the
press, knocking on doors."

The Indian vote could also
factor decisively in the presidential election: By a strange
geopolitical twist of fate, Native American populations are
concentrated in key swing states, principally South Dakota, New
Mexico and Arizona. In New Mexico, where 10 percent of the
electorate is Native American, Al Gore led in the 2000 election by
366 votes. In extraordinarily tight races, where hundreds of votes
can make the difference, the Native American vote suddenly matters.

Blitzing the rez

Indian voters have
always turned out for tribal elections, at rates as high as 90
percent, says Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of
American Indians. But for state and federal elections held
separately, turnout typically nosedives to around 20 percent. This
year, through "get out the vote" training and voter registration,
the group hopes to turn out 1 million Indian voters; there are
about 3 million registered Indian voters nationwide. It’s
also lobbying tribal governments to move their tribal elections to
coincide with state and federal elections.

"When
you’re living on an Indian reservation, you feel really
removed from the national scope of things," explains Sheila Morago,
who directs the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, which, together
with the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, has launched "Native Vote
2004" to increase turnout among Arizona’s 22 Indian tribes.

Roberta Tso is a young Navajo mother who registered to
vote at the Navajo Nation’s July 4th festival in Window Rock.
"We are the largest Indian tribe," she says, "so I believe we can
make a difference … if we vote."

Because Native
Americans tend to vote Democratic, it’s clear that getting
them to the polls this November is a much bigger priority for the
Democrats. But Arizona’s Republican Party is also planning a
Navajo language ad blitz and mailing this fall.

"We’ve seen a real turnaround up there," says Rep. Rick
Renzi, R-Ariz., who has brought millions of dollars back to the
reservation for housing and roads. Although Renzi only received 8
percent of the Navajo vote two years ago, any increase this year
will benefit not only his own campaign, but could also help
President Bush’s chances in Arizona, which he carried in 2000
by just 6 percent.

Because some pollsters predict Arizona
will go to bed on election night not knowing who carried the state,
Democrats will fight hard to hang on to the Indian vote.

The Navajo Nation has already delayed its tribal elections to
coincide with the November vote, and Jim Peterson, chairman of the
Arizona Democratic Party, says that alone could be all his party
needs. "Arizona is essentially a dead heat," he says. "If we can
pick up a few thousand votes on the Navajo Reservation, that could
mean the difference."

The author directs the
Indian Country News Bureau in Flagstaff, a project of KNAU, Arizona
Public Radio, and KUYI, Hopi Radio.